Machine for ramming the ballast of railway lines



Feb. 28, 1961 P. ALLEMANN MACHINE FOR RAMMING THE BALLAST OF RAILWAYLINES Filed Jan. 22. 1958 MACHINE FOR RAMMING THE BALLAST OF I RAILWAYLINES Paul Allemann, Renens, Switzerland, assignor to MaterielIndustriel S.A., Lausanne, and Constructions Mecaniques S.A. Renens,Renens, Switzerland Filed Ian. 22, 1958, at. No. 710,465 Claimspriority, application Switzerland Feb. 4, 1967 1 Claim. (Cl. 104-12 Itis known that the ramming machines for railway lines very often compriseremovable tools which can be mounted on a certain number of vibratingtool-carriers, having the shape of arms, which are arranged'in pairsopposite to one another on either side of the sleeper which is to berammed and which are generally arranged on one or more supportingmembers, called mobile frames be cause they can be displaced in relationto the fixed frame of the vehicle in order that the tools may be sunkinto the ballast. It is known that the ramming action, facilitated bythe vibration of the tools, is obtained in particular by successivelymoving the tool spades towards one another and away from one anotherwhich assembles and packs the stones of the ballast to a compact mass,called a mould, under each sleeper in the neighborhood of each of therows of rails.

In the rammers which are called hydraulic or pneumatic, these motions,respectively called closing and opening motions, of the tool-carriersare controlled by a fluid acting by its pressure in variable volumechambers.

In the hydraulic or pneumatic rammers known as vibrating frame rammers,the two arms of each pair are articulated on an auxiliary supportingmember which is made to vibrate by means of a generator of vibrations ofany type and is then secured to the mobile frame proper, i.e., to theframe which is adjustable in height as we have seen above, preferably bymeans of damping members in order to reduce the vibrating masses to aminimum, which ofiers all the evident advantages of such an arrangement.

Actually there is in this type of machine no known satisfactory systemenabling symmetrical closing mo-' tions, i.e., a conjugated closingmotion to be imparted to the two tool-carrying arms, because those basedon the interdependence of the hydraulic control itself lead to designswhich are too complicated, delicate and costly for practicalrequirements, and those making use of a mechanical interdependence ofthe two arms, which employ a system of elbowed tool-carrying armsconnected by a multiplicity of rods, i.e., comprising several rigidelements articulated in series so as to form a kinematic chain, whichrequire, in addition, a device to guide at lease one intermediatearticulation in relation to the vibrating frame, are badly adapted forthe purpose owing to the elasticity of the mechanism and to the backlashwhich inevitably occurs in the articulations, thus causing sensiblelosses in the vibration of the tool-carriers in addition to the otheraforementioned disadvantages.

The present invention aims at remedying these defects of the hydraulicand pneumatic rammers, and in particular of those with a vibratingframe. Its object is a machine for ramming the ballast of railway lines,of the type comprising means controlled by a fluid under pressure forproducing the motions towards one another and away from one another ofat least one pair of ramming tools, characterized in that at least onemember ensuring the mechanical interdependence is provided to connectthe two tool-carrying arms of a same pair of tools, in order to ensure aconjugated motion of these tools, this member,

which can be made in several parts being articulated solely to thesetool-carrying arms.

The single figure of the accompanying drawing illus-{ trates,schematically and by way of an example, an embodiment of the machineaccording to the inventio'nf In 1 may be seen two tool-carriers in theshape of rectilinear arms respectively articulated in 2- and 3 to therod 7 of a piston and to a cylinder 8 in which this piston slides. In 4may be seen the tools (spades) secured to the lower extremities of thearms 1. In 5 can be seen a sleeper under which the ballast (which hasnot beenshown) has to be rammed by the tools 4. The ducts 111 it fromone side:

serve to supply the fluidand evacuate and the other of the piston in thecylinder 8.

by a plate in the shape of a U placed upside down.

This vibrating frame is secured by means of damping components 13, on aframe which has not been shown and which is mobile vertically in orderto ensure the sinking motion of the tools 4 into the ballast, theextraction of these tools from the ballast and to allow them to belifted above the sleeper 5, in order that the machine and with it thetools 4 may be moved over to the next sleeper.

A vibrator, constituted in the embodiment shown by an electric motor 10driving an eccentric 9, is secured to the frame 12 and consequentlyimparts to the latter a vibrating motion which it transmits to the arms1 and consequently to the tools 4. This vibrator could be of a typedifferent from that comprising an unbalance and an electric motor.

The arms 1 are connected to one another so as to be mechanicallyinterdependent by a member, constituted in this embodiment by a rod 14,articulated to points 15, respectively 16 of the arms 1, preferablysituated at equal distances from the articulations 6, but the one aboveand the other below the respective articulation. It is easy tounderstand that thus, when the fluid under pressure is introduced intothe part of the cylinder 8 which is situated to the right of the piston7, the tools 4 are not only compelled to move towards one another, butthat in addition, the motion of these tools can, according to theproportions chosen for the different parts, be practically symmetricalwithin the extent of the working movement. An abnormal swinging motionof the toolcarriers under the influence of the weights concerned andabove all under the action of the unequal resistances encountered by thetwo tools 4 in the ballast, is thus avoided.

This advantage of having a conjugated practically symmetrical motion ofthe tools is of importance for the quality of the ramming action. Up tothe present, in the hydraulic or pneumatic rammers which wereprincipally designed so as to limit the ramming pressure, thissymmetrical motion was not ensured, as has been mentioned above.

In a variant, the interconnecting rod can be provided at 14a, i.e.,symmetrically with respect to the rod 14, as shown by the dot and dashlines.

In another variant, the axis of the piston 7 and cylinder 8 controllingthe opening and closing motion of the tools could be arranged obliquely,for instance in order to allow the articulations 3 and 6 of theright-hand arm 1 to be replaced by a common articulation. Thisconstruction would allow the articulations 6 of the left-hand arm and 16to be arranged at the same height above the ballast. The shape of thevibrating frame 12 would in that case have to be modified inconsequence, the right hand point 6 (coinciding with 3) would. be placedhigher than the left-hand point 6 and that part of the right-hand arm 1situated above the articulation 6 would be suppressed.

It will be remarked that owing to the fact that the tools Patented Feb.28, 1961 all vibrate under the control of the frame, they vibratesynchronously and in phase. The rear face of a tool 4 thus periodicallyreceives from the ballast a thrust which tends to close thetool-carriers. and counteracts the effect of the ballast compressed bytheopposite tool,v whence: the: possibility of. using, an elastic fluid-(,gas%

The vibrating. frame 12 could. obviously be made. to carry more than onepair of. tool-carrying, arms-..

The invention is) not limited to the case of a vibrating toolecarryingframe; The vibration oh the tools could also be controlled individuallyfor each tool.

Whatlclaimis:

Ramming apparatus comprising opposed ramming; tools; tool carrierssupporting, said rammingtools, a sup porting frame, each: oi said toolcarriers being pivoted on said frame, piston and cylinder means coupledto said: tool carriers on thesarneside'of' the: connection betweenthetool. carrier and theframe and. responsive to a pressure medium foroscillating said. tools toward and away from each other, and aconnecting rod connected solely between said tool carriers, saidrodvbeing connected to anemone 4 one carrier above the connection of thelatter to said frame and to the other carrier below the connection ofthe latter to said frame and being spaced the same distance from thepivot connection point between the tool carrier and the frame, said rodinsuring a correlated movement of said carriers.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,5521611' Jackson Sept. 3, 1925 1,740,538 Connelly Dec. 24, 19291,767,268 Wehr ...t=- Ju'ne' 24, 1930 2,536,8&7 Philbrick ..t -a Jan. 2,1 951 2,706,061 Elimann Apr.12, 1955 2,791,971 Schnellmann: May 14, 19572,821,935 Bean Feb. 4, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 509,019 Canada Jan;- 11,1955 830,352 Germany .t. Feb. 4, 1952'

